But Cavanaugh isn’t just any Joel fan sitting down at the keyboard to plunk his way through “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant.”

He was Tony-nominated for his performance in “Movin’ Out,” the Broadway show featuring Joel’s music and Twyla Tharp’s choreography. Handpicked by Joel, he played the music for three years on Broadway before leaving the show in 2005. Since then, he’s been touring the country singing Joel’s music and, just recently, in a new show that features the music of Elton John.

“I don’t think I ever really thought this would become such a big part of my life,” Cavanaugh says from his home in Las Vegas.

Who: Michael Cavanaugh, singing the music of Billy Joel and more with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra

But as a youngster who loved Joel’s songs — his father played them around the house — Cavanaugh did have his dreams.

“I was probably just being a cocky teenager, but I said I was going to meet him, and we were going to be friends,” he says with a laugh. “I think I was just being stupid.”

Stupid or not, Cavanaugh has found himself in Joel’s inner circle, jamming with him after hours in hotel bars, playing on stage with him a couple of times, and often touring with members of Joel’s band.

Oh, and none of this “Mr. Joel” stuff.

“Thankfully, Billy is so cool about me doing his music,” Cavanaugh says. “He likes the way I do it, and he’s glad I’m doing it.”

In his ASO show, Cavanaugh will sing many of Joel’s hits, including “Uptown Girl,” “New York State of Mind,” “It’s Still Rock and Roll To Me,” “Movin’ Out” and, of course, “Piano Man.”

And though he sounds like Joel – even Joel’s mother has told the two she can’t tell them apart – Cavanaugh says he’s not trying to impersonate him.

“It kind of comes out of me the same way it went in in terms of phrasing and attitude and emotion,” he says. “I was such a big fan, and after school I’d play those records to death. So I probably deliver it in a similar way, like an actor would deliver a role.”

And he’s singing music from one of the best, whose popularity belies just how good a musician he is, Cavanaugh says.

“The musicians know how great he is, but the common man doesn’t know how great he is; they just don’t realize what goes into that stuff musically and lyrically,” Cavanaugh says. “If you look at a writer, musician, performer all in one package, who’s going to beat him? It’s him and McCartney to me.